Mother’s Day Media Mavens

Today is Mother's Day in the U.S. and many other parts of the world, so I thought I'd take advantage of the day to celebrate some of my favorite moms from blogs and other social networks.

Sundry: Linda is probably the "mommy blogger" I've read the longest, and she was one of my first interviews here on Profy. I was reading her blog before being a mommy was even on the radar, and she'd continued to keep her blog interesting even after having kids, no small feat for many of the blogs that suddenly seem to switch focus. She blogs in more places than I can keep track of any longer as well as holds down a part-time gig doing marketing for a software company, and she should serve as an example to anyone blogging, both in terms of staying true to yourself as well as managing an audience even after crazy popularity sets in. How she manages to do it, I'll never know, but her blog is one that's never left my feeds in probably five years.

Susan Reynolds: A diagnosis of cancer can be absolutely devastating. Some people choose to condense their lives, keeping the focus small and on their day-to-day existence. Susan Reynolds has taken the opposite approach, using every single bit of social media to promote cancer awareness, her Frozen Pea Fund, and making friends. I only discovered her after her diagnosis, but I think every single one of her Twitter followers feels as if they know her and her family. One highlight of Web 2.0 Expo for me was getting the news that her most recent grandchild was born… via the big-screen monitors broadcasting Twittervision.

Clusterfook: Lisa is a new discovery for me, and I actually found her through Susan Reynolds' Tweets. She was recently diagnosed with cancer for the third time, and every time I think I'm having a bad day, I see one of her Tweets and I'm reminded that I should shut up and quit whining. Like Sundry, she's brutally honest in her posts, and one that I commented on (Idiot List) had me sobbing so much my husband thought my laptop had flamed out. She's celebrating today in Disney World with her family, riding roller coasters she admitted she was terrified of, and doing it more than once. I want to wake up every day and approach my day like Lisa does.

Carla Thompson: Carla, like me, balances mommyhood with working in this crazy industry. She's a Senior Analyst at The Guidewire Group, writes for their blog, works on DEMO, wrangles two children, and seems to play a lot of Wii. Odds are if I'm not sure how I feel about some new application or trend, Carla will post about it and solidify all my unrelated thoughts into a coherent take on it. I want to be Carla when I grow up.